Local man is heading south — but not for the warmer weather Instead, Forrest Mansur is cycling from Springvale to Florida to raise funds for the veterans’ cemetery

Thursday

Dec 6, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Shawn P. SullivanSanford News Editor

SPRINGVALE — Forrest Mansur will be traveling during the holidays, but not in the way you might figure. Oh, he may very well go over the river and through the woods, but it will not be to Grandma’s house he goes. It’ll be to the naval station in Key West, Florida. And he’ll be taking his bicycle too.

Mansur is pedaling roughly 2,200 miles from Springvale to Key West to raise funds to help purchase 20 military-service emblems to place along the front gate at the Southern Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery on Stanley Road. He’ll leave the cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 15, and he expects it’ll take him around 45 days to make it to the Sunshine State. It will all depend on the weather, of course. If he hits a snow storm, he’ll be stuck in a hotel room somewhere along the East Coast until it all blows over.

Mansur, who owns and operates Heritage Memorials on Main Street in Sanford, is hoping his bike ride will raise $30,000 to go toward the emblems, which are aluminum, color-impregnated and 18 inches in diameter. The funds also will help the Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery Association (SMVCA) retrofit the front gate to accommodate the emblems, he said.

So far, a number of local businesses have made donations: Landry’s Furniture; Sanford Institution for Savings; Genest Precast; Jerry’s Market; North Berwick Income Tax Service; Shaw’s Hardware; CSA Enterprises; and The Stoneworks. Also, Susan Worthing, of Helpful Websites, has designed Mansur’s blog, located online at www.heritagememorialsme.com, for free. Mansur has brought in $1,425 to date.

For the trip, Mansur purchased a map from Adventure Cycling for about $100. If the trip seems a bit longer than you’d expect if you were traveling directly to Florida, there’s a reason: he’ll be taking back roads to get there.

Along the way, he plans to stay at reasonably priced hotels that offer Continental breakfasts in the morning. He’s not making any reservations, though, as the weather will determine how many miles he will ride each day. He hopes to cover between 50 and 60 miles each day, but figures strong headwinds could slow him down to 30 and a storm could stop him in his tracks.

“There’d be nothing worse than sitting in a hotel room and waiting for a snowstorm to pass,” he said. “I’m not the kind to sit around and waste a day.”

Mansur insists he’s not a cyclist but says he has taken two big rides before. Two years ago, he and his wife, Linda, rode from San Diego to Key West; last year, he rode from San Francisco to San Diego. Although Linda has to work while Mansur is away, she will be joining him for one leg of his trip; she will accompany her father as he drives to Florida for the winter, and he will bring her to wherever Mansur is at that point so she can ride with him.

Mansur said he is looking forward to getting through Virginia and into the warmer Southern states.

Mansur is not a veteran, but in his line of work he has completed a variety of tasks at the new cemetery since it opened in 2010. He has seen the service emblems displayed at the committal building at the cemetery and knows the SMVCA wants ones for the front entrance, so he’s hoping his biking fundraiser will help.

Raymond Parent, the chair of the SMVCA, said he is grateful to Mansur for taking on such a big fundraising project.

“I think it’s a wonderful undertaking for him and his wife to do,” Parent said. “I respect him so much for taking on such a project for the cemetery. It’ll make a very big difference in the entrance of the cemetery.”

Anyone who wishes to donate to the cause can send a check to Heritage Memorials, Attn: SMVCA, P.O. Box 145, Sanford, Maine, 04073. Companies that donate can have their logos displayed on Mansur’s blog, which he will update daily with photos and write-ups during his trip.

In addition to the funds he is raising, Mansur said there is another benefit to taking such a long, grueling trip on a bicycle.

“The good thing about this is you can eat 4,000 calories a day,” he said.